Catch Me Again
by aecul
Summary: ...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
1. Found

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or Eustace, unfortunately.

I wrote all three chapters of this last night while we were watching _Prince Caspian_, and it was late, so parts of it might be kind of choppy. Also for chapters 2 & 3 I didn't have _The Silver Chair_ or _The Last Battle_ with me so I apologize if any details are off. I guess chapter 3 has spoilers for LB.

Hope you like it! Reviews are always welcome. :)

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_Catch Me Again_

Before, there was nothing else: just him. He didn't care a crumb for anyone else, least of all his prissy cousins. He knew _exactly_ what they thought of him, but he was just misunderstood. It never crossed his mind that since _everyone_ "misunderstood" him, he might actually be kind of unreasonable. It wasn't even a thought. He was just himself, and maybe people should get used to it.

Then they came for the summer. It was stupid, he thought. He couldn't stand them. "It's only for a little while," Alberta told him apologetically. "You'll live." So he decided to make the best of it and torture them as much as possible while they were there. At least it would give him something to do.

Lucy was put up in the spare room with That Awful Picture, the one that gave him shivers whenever he caught a glimpse of it. She and Edmund would just sit there and _stare_ at it, like it was going to _do_ something. They talked about the strangest things, too, things that he could not understand but that gave him similar chills to the ones he got from the picture. "What's _Narnia_?" he asked them once. A mistake. Lucy's big eyes lit up bright, and she started rambling on and on, moving her arms around a lot. "It's the most wonderful place, Eustace! You would love it. It's perfectly marvelous there, and there are fauns and centaurs and Peter was High King…"

Right. He didn't even know what a centaur _was_. He looked it up in the dictionary and was nearly sick. He had known his cousins weren't quite normal from the beginning, but he hadn't known they were insane. Who but some naïve three- or four-year-old would make up games about a place with mythical animals and crud like that, and actually _believe_ it?

He informed his mother: "They're completely crazy! They can't stay here!" But stay there they did.

* * *

He hated water. Hated ships. Hated blasted Narnian kings and lost lords and uninhabited islands. He could think of no words to describe the first half of his voyage on the _Dawn Treader_ better than _utterly miserable_. Of course, he realized later, everyone else on the ship thought he was pretty miserable too.

He still couldn't quite believe that he was actually in another world when they reached Dragon Island. He was convinced he would wake up any minute and find it had all been a horribly vivid nightmare.

However, that didn't explain why he was so _tired_. You didn't get tired in dreams, did you? Why was every single day of their stupid voyage _work_, _work_, _work_? He was sick of being helpful (or his equivalent of helpful). He deserved a day off. So he went for a walk and a climb, got lost, and ended up finding a dragon's cave.

At the time he didn't know it was a dragon's cave. He didn't really care what it was, but it had Useful Treasure inside it, so he crawled up onto the treasure pile, put one of the bracelets on his arm, and fell fast asleep.

* * *

Being a dragon was the worst experience he ever had in his life. He lost all his pride, having to watch the rest of the crew bother over what on earth was to be done about him, and realizing that his cousins really _did_ care about him after all.

He resigned himself to being a dragon forever. By this time he had given up his fantasy that all this could be a dream, and he wondered if he would have to live out the rest of his days alone on the island. It was a scary fate, and made him cry, which he never would have done before, especially not in front of anyone else.

He was on his own, he felt, to face the end, until, one dark night, there was a lion. _The_ lion, who was frightening in a way he could not explain. He felt for the first time in his life that, even now, as a dragon, he was very small and helpless. _The_ lion, who spoke straight into his mind: "_Follow me_." And how could he not? _The_ lion who took away the layers of the boy who was a dragon, and made him the boy who was Aslan's Eustace. As opposed to Harold and Alberta's.

Aslan's Eustace was a better one, everyone thought, and he himself agreed. He finally understood that he had been lost, wandering, and now he was found. He was found.

_You number my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle; are they not in Your book?  
_Psalm 56:8

_And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."  
_Luke 15: 20-24


	2. Held

_Catch Me Again, Chapter 2._

He really did not mind Jill. She was a decent girl, despite the fact that she was a bit stubborn and a lot prideful; so when he found her crying that afternoon behind the school, he wanted to make her feel better. He hadn't intended at all to tell her about Narnia, but it seemed right, and it just kind of tumbled out. Lucky for him, she turned out to be probably one of the only kids at Experiment House who wouldn't laugh in his face at such stories.

He certainly hadn't intended to pull her into Narnia along with him, either- it was a shock to both of them.

They started out their friendship arguing. What irony. And as a result he found himself staring at a frozen girl, standing like a statue at the very edge of a cliff that touched the heavens. What else could he do but go after her? He steeled himself to approach the ridge that stole the breath right out of his chest. He forced himself forward, grabbed her arm, and…

…was falling straight over the edge. Automatically the fall ripped a desperate scream from him. Not that it really did anything: he was still falling, fast. _Stupid Jill_, was all he was able to think. _I'm going to die_.

He didn't die. He landed with a solid _bump_, on…air? He was moving along slowly with a heavy wind at his back, pushing him up and forward, keeping him from dropping any further.

Things like that didn't just happen, even in Narnia. He turned back to the cliff, craning his neck, squinting up. He could make out two shapes, one of a tiny little person, and one of a great animal. A lion, he thought. Blowing. It took him a second to process this, then, oh. Of course. Who else?

And he knew even if he fell a million miles, Aslan would be there to catch him.

_Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  
_Matthew 6: 26

_Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in h***, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  
_Psalm 139: 7-10


	3. Alive

_Catch Me Again, Chapter 3._

If he had to admit it, death was probably his worst fear. More than heights. More than turning into a dragon again. More than tumbling over cliffs. More than…well, maybe not more than losing Jill. But he had never been put into a situation where he had to decide between the two. So.

He loved riding trains, and he loved adventures, and he loved Narnia, so put all three together, and what do you have? Quite a bit of pent-up nervous excitement.

The Professor and Miss Plummer were deep in conversation, and Eustace and Jill were arguing quietly over something-or-other, when Lucy cried, "Look! That sign we just passed said we're almost there!"

Everyone grew silent and leaned towards the window. Jill sent Eustace a small, hesitant smile. Almost there. He reached out and took her hand.

A few more minutes passed, and they quite obviously had not reached the train station yet, so Digory and Polly returned to their conversation, and Lucy was distracted by the book she had open in her lap. Jill had not let go of Eustace's hand yet, and he let her hang onto it. They continued watching out the window for the station to come into view, and then, there it was. Eustace would have said something to the others, and Jill was about to, but she glanced at his face and she stopped. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

He was silent for a minute, wondering why they were suddenly going so fast and why everything seemed wrong…

…he caught his breath. Here it was. He wondered vaguely what it was like to die. Not wanting to frighten Jill, he gave her the best smile he could manage, squeezing her hand hard.

He turned away from the window, but he didn't close his eyes. He looked down at his hand holding Jill's, on the armrest between their seats._ Aslan_, he thought urgently, and instantly a strong, almost tangible sense of peace filled the cabin. Somehow, everything would be okay, because Aslan really was with them, was watching over them. He took a deep breath…

The accident was a dreadful jolt. He hardly felt it; he could see Life on the other side of the gap, and reached out.

"…_Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."  
_Isaiah 43: 1-2

"_And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  
_Revelation 21: 4

The End

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Well, there you have it. I personally thought it turned out okay, but my sister said it didn't seem very Eustace-y. I would love to know what you thought; please review! :D


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